Nine years sought for ex-ministry official

Your move: Former youth and sports ministry official Deddy Kusdinar, the key suspect in the Hambalang graft case, talks to his lawyers at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Tuesday. Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors demanded he be sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay Rp 300 million (US$25,320) fines. (JP/Wendra Ajistytama)

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) prosecutors demanded on Tuesday a nine-year prison term for Deddy Kusdinar, a former head of financial and internal affairs at the Youth and Sports Ministry, for his role in rigging construction projects for the Hambalang Sports Complex in Bogor, West Java.

KPK prosecutors accused Deddy of enriching himself with Rp 1.4 billion he collected from rigging the Hambalang project, of which Rp 1 billion he received from construction company PT Adhi Karya, the company that won the tender; Rp 250 million from PT Global Daya Manunggal, one of the companies subcontracted by PT Adhi Karya; Rp 140 million from Lisa Lukitawati, the director of CV Rifa Medika, another subcontractor; and Rp 10 million from Hambalang subcontractor PT Ciriajasa Cipta Mandiri.

Prosecutors said that Deddy had violated Article 3 of Law No. 31/1999 on corruption.

“We call on the panel of judges to find the defendant guilty of corruption,” prosecutor I Kadek Wiradana said at the Jakarta Corruption Court in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Tuesday.

Prosecutors also demanded that Deddy pay a fine of Rp 300 million (US$ 25,320) or serve an additional year in prison if he failed to pay.

Through his lawyer, Samsul Huda, Deddy said that he was shocked by the prosecutors’ demand of nine years in prison.

Samsul said Deddy had pledged that he would reveal other big names who masterminded a scheme to rig the Hambalang project.

“My client is a small fish [in this case], in his defense statement he will divulge the roles of [big names] such as Andi Mallarangeng, Anas Urbaningrum, Mahfud Suroso, Choel and an individual from Cikeas,” Samsul said, referring to the private residence of the First Family in Cikeas.

Samsul said that the individual linked to Cikeas was “Bu Pur, as said by the prosecutors in the trial.” He was referring to Ibu Pur or Sylvia Sholehah, a person close to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who allegedly played a go-between role in the Hambalang scandal.

Sylvia allegedly used her influence to help the Youth and Sports Ministry get approval from the Finance Ministry to transform the Hambalang project from a modest, single-year plan into a multiyear one.

KPK prosecutors said in their indictment that recipients of embezzled funds were former Democratic Party (PD) chairman Anas Urbaningrum and two confidants of Yudhoyono — former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng and former head of the National Land Agency (BPN), Joyo Winoto. Also implicated was a member of the House of Representatives budgetary commission, Olly Dondokambey, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and former chairman of House Commission X overseeing sports, Mahyuddin NS of the PD.

The money also went to Andi’s younger brother — Andi “Choel” Zulkarnain Mallarangeng — a number of officials at the Public Works Ministry and executives from companies that won tenders for the construction project.

Andi was named a suspect in the case in 2012 and Anas was arrested in January for his alleged role in the Hambalang graft case.

In the indictment, Andi was accused of receiving kickbacks of Rp 4 billion ($337,609) and $550,000, while Anas was alleged to have gotten Rp 2.2 billion. Joyo was accused of taking in Rp 3 billion.

The Hambalang sports facility is located in Bogor regency and was designed to be an international-standard sports-training center. The project was originally mooted by Andi’s predecessor, Adhyaksa Dault, with an initial budget of around Rp 300 billion.